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1 The Democracy to Which We Are Entitled: Human Rights and the Problem of Money in Politics Timothy K. Kuhner 1 I. A HUMAN RIGHT TO DEMOCRACY OR PLUTOCRACY? Democracy has increasingly benefitted from international legal support since the end of the Cold War. International organizations have made elections a staple of post-conflict transitions, 2 elections and basic political rights have become a strong factor in the recognition of States and governments, 3 and many organizations including the Council of Europe, the European Union, and the Organization of American States treat democratic governance as a condition for membership and good international standing. 4 These and other pragmatic measures facilitated the globalization of democracy in the years following the collapse of the Berlin Wall. Between 1. Associate Professor, Georgia State University College of Law; J.D. and LL.M., magna cum laude, Duke University School of Law. I presented earlier versions of this Article on the New Voices in International Human Rights panel at the Annual Meeting of the American Association of Law Schools and at a Duke Law School faculty workshop. I thank James Boyle, Gregory Fox, Georg Nolte, and Brad Roth for comments, and Thomas Franck for encouragement. Kate Johnston, Christina Paradise, and Craig Tavares deserve recognition for their contributions to the research underlying this Article. 2. See Gregory H. Fox & Brad R. Roth, Introduction: The Spread of Liberal Democracy and Its Implications for International Law, in DEMOCRATIC GOVERNANCE AND INTERNATIONAL LAW 5 (Gregory H. Fox & Brad R. Roth eds. 2000) ( [I]t has become almost a given that international organizations will culminate their efforts at national reconciliation with the holding of democratic elections. Not once has the international community proposed that a new, post-conflict government be chosen in any other way. ). 3. See Sean D. Murphy, Democratic Legitimacy and the Recognition of States and Governments, in DEMO- CRATIC GOVERNANCE AND INTERNATIONAL LAW, supra note 2, at (describing criteria for the recognition of new states and governments under international law). 4. Freedom House, Press Release: Democracy Momentum Sustained As, Dec. 21, 1999, available at / (last visited July 21, 2007) ( From the Council of Europe, which demands adherence to democratic norms for admission, to the Organization of American States, which has sharply rebuked Cuba s repressive regime, to the Commonwealth, which has suspended from membership countries where democracy has been overthrown, regional organizations have increasingly come to insist that member countries adhere to the democracy standard. ); Christopher Harding, Democratic Rights in European Law: Taking Stock at the Close of the 20th Century, 2 OR. REV. INT L L. 64, 67 (2000) (discussing democratic governance as a criterion for EU membership); Desmond Dinan, Fifty Years of European Integration: A Remarkable Achievement, 31 FORDHAM INT L L.J. 1118, 1139 ( ) ( The impossibility of enjoying the economic benefits of EU membership without being democratic and respecting fundamental rights strengthened progressive forces in Greece, Portugal, and Spain, as those countries emerged from dictatorial rule in the mid-1970s, and subsequently in Eastern Europe following the end of the Cold War and the collapse of the Soviet Union. ).

2 40 Harvard Human Rights Journal / Vol. 26 the mid-1980s and the turn of the century, the proportion of democracies relative to all forms of government soared from one-third to almost twothirds. 5 At face value, this worldwide transformation appears to make good on one of international law s earliest promises: a human right to democratic governance. In 1948, the Universal Declaration of Human Rights declared: The will of the people shall be the basis of the authority of government; this will shall be expressed in periodic and genuine elections which shall be by universal and equal suffrage Several decades later, the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights ( ICCPR ), a treaty ratified by 166 States, affirmed these and other provisions on democracy. 7 When the relevant articles of these documents are viewed together with the resolutions of human rights bodies, a demanding set of rights emerges, a democratic entitlement. 8 This entitlement is so demanding, however, as to raise questions about whether the sort of democracy commonly seen in the world today is consistent with human rights law. Consider that the democratic entitlement requires access, on general terms of equality, to public service in [one s] country, 9 protects the right and the opportunity without... distinctions [as to property, fortune, or economic status]... [t]o take part in the conduct of public affairs..., 10 and requires all States to provide [t]ransparent and accountable government institutions. 11 Encompassing much more than elections by universal suffrage, the democratic entitlement may not have such a harmonious relationship with the globalization of democracy after all to wit, the striking role of private financial power in democratic politics worldwide. A 2003 United States Agency for International Development ( USAID ) global report on democracy concludes: [p]ayback of campaign debts in the form of political favors 5. J. Crawford, Democracy and the Body of International Law, in DEMOCRATIC GOVERNANCE AND INTERNATIONAL LAW, supra note 2, at 95 (discussing democracy in the mid-1980s); Freedom House, Press Release: Democracy Momentum Sustained As, supra note 4 (reporting the number of democracies in 1999 as 120, or nearly two-thirds of states). 6. Universal Declaration of Human Rights, G.A. Res. 217(III)A, U.N. Doc. A/RES/217(III) (Dec. 10, 1948) art. 21(3) [hereinafter Universal Declaration]. 7. International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, Dec. 16, 1966, 999 U.N.T.S. 171, 6 I.L.M. 368, art. 25(b) [hereinafter ICCPR], available at Article 25(b), for example, guarantees the right [t]o vote and to be elected at genuine periodic elections which shall be by universal and equal suffrage and shall be held by secret ballot.... Id. 8. Thomas M. Franck, The Emerging Right to Democratic Governance, 86 AM. J. INT L L. 46, 50 (1992) [hereinafter The Emerging Right ]. 9. ICCPR, supra note 7, art. 25(c). 10. Id. art 25. Article 25 incorporates Article 2 s anti-discrimination clause, id., which includes property and is translated as fortune in the French version and economic position in the Spanish version, see Déclaration universelle des droits de l homme, G.A. Res. 217 (III) A, U.N. Doc. A/RES/ 217(III) (Dec. 10, 1948), available at (last visited Sept. 9, 2012); Declaración universal de derechos humanos, G.A. Res. 217 (III) A, U.N. Doc. A/RES/ 217(III) (Dec. 10, 1948), available at (last visited Sept. 29, 2012). 11. Promotion of the Right to Democracy, Commission on Human Rights Resolution 1999/57, U.N. Doc. E/CN.4/RES/1999/57, art. 2(f) (Apr. 27, 1999) [hearinafter Resolution 1999/57].

3 2013 / The Democracy to Which We Are Entitled 41 breeds a type of corruption that is commonly encountered around the world. 12 The report further notes that disclosure requirements are commonly lacking or unenforced, and characterizes 65 percent of the 118 democracies surveyed as having low or virtually no political transparency. 13 Herbert E. Alexander and Rei Shiratori suggest that these problems are not confined to new or developing democracies: whatever their stage of democratization... [eight of the world s major democratic] countries have witnessed the proliferation of scandals stemming from monetary contributions to gain political favors. 14 Read together, these observations suggest the globalization of democracy has brought the globalization of democratic corruption in tow. Can the democratic entitlement s provisions on popular sovereignty and political equality be squared with evidence that private wealth obtains political favors and avoids disclosure in many democracies? If not, the international system faces a most troubling puzzle. What should international law make of States that do not implement disclosure rules or maintain at least minimal restrictions on donations to parties and campaigns, corporate political activity, and lobbyists? Should such States be understood as violating their citizens human rights? Should international law, particularly human rights law, take steps to encourage democratic integrity? Although international law addresses bribery, influence trading, and other essentially criminal forms of corruption, it does not address the financing of political parties or electoral campaigns, corporate electioneering, interest groups, or lobbyists. 15 These neglected issues go to subtle (or advanced) forms of corruption arising from the disproportionate power of the wealthy, including corporations and interest groups, in the political process. The dominant view holds that these matters of political finance should not be subject to international scrutiny. 16 They are, in this view and under 12. OFFICE OF DEMOCRACY AND GOVERNANCE, U.S. AGENCY FOR INTERNATIONAL DEVELOPMENT, MONEY IN POLITICS HANDBOOK: A GUIDE TO INCREASING TRANSPARENCY IN EMERGING DEMOCRA- CIES 7 (2003), Document No. PN-ACR-223, available at (last visited Sept. 29, 2012) [hereinafter MONEY IN POLITICS HANDBOOK]. 13. Id. at 2 ( [M]ost nations do not hold their politicians accountable through disclosure requirements. ). Of the twenty-seven African countries surveyed, only 44% required public disclosure reports. Id. at 27. In the Caribbean, only 27 percent (eleven countries surveyed); in Central America 29 percent (seven countries surveyed); in South America, 58 percent (twelve countries surveyed); in Europe, 86 percent (thirty-five countries surveyed). Id. at Herbert E. Alexander & Rei Shiratori, Introduction, in COMPARATIVE POLITICAL FINANCE AMONG THE DEMOCRACIES 3 (Herbert E. Alexander & Rei Shiratori eds., 1994) [hereinafter COMPARA- TIVE POLITICAL FINANCE]. 15. See infra Part II. 16. This view is so dominant, so entirely supported by the status quo, that it hardly needs to be articulated. As aspects of political authority and the internal functioning of governments, the financing of political parties and political campaigns clearly lies within the core of state sovereignty, traditionally understood. See STEPHEN D. KRASNER, SOVEREIGNTY: ORGANIZED HYPOCRISY 4, 20 (1999) (discussing traditional notions of sovereignty, including domestic sovereignty, the formal organization of political authority within the state and the ability of public authorities to exercise effective control within the borders of their own polity, at 4; and Westphalian sovereignty, the exclusion of external actors from

4 42 Harvard Human Rights Journal / Vol. 26 the reign of the status quo, domestic matters beyond the reach of international law. This Article is the first to offer an alternative perspective, an international approach to money in politics. 17 Part I describes widespread concern over money in politics and shows that the literature on the democratic entitlement has yet to subject political finance practices to the scrutiny of international law. Part II describes the exclusion of political finance issues from the scope of global anti-corruption norms. This demonstrates that international action on anything besides extreme forms of corruption is unlikely to emanate from this body of law. Part III proposes that human rights law is the most appropriate body of international law to do this work. It asks whether the dynamics of money in politics are consistent with key global human rights instruments. Part IV isolates the interpretive controversies upon which the answer depends and describes a sample of approaches taken by notable high courts. Part V concludes this inquiry by outlining an interpretive approach that would be appropriate for the particular textual and normative commitments of the democratic entitlement. A. Democratic Corruption Scholars have long expressed concern over the corrupting effects of political spending in democracies. In the introduction to their book on comparative political finance, K. D. Ewing and Samuel Issacharoff explain one danger of unregulated political spending: domestic authority structures, at 20) (emphasis added). The other reason that the dominant view is rarely articulated is that it has yet to be challenged. As scholars have not proposed an international human rights approach to political finance, the defenders of the status quo have hardly had the occasion to assert their position. Evidence of the dominance of that position, however, can be found within the drafting process of the U.N. Convention Against Corruption, in particular the fate of draft Article 10. A small minority of States attempted to bring political finance within the scope of international corruption norms, and was handily defeated. See infra Part II. 17. As outlined above, I use the phrase money in politics to refer to the financing of political speech, political parties, and political campaigns. Questions of lobbyists, corporate political expenditures, and large individual contributions to parties and campaigns are distinct from issues of abject corruption, principally bribery, nepotism, and misappropriation of public funds. Unlike issues of political finance and money in politics, abject corruption has been examined from the perspective of human rights law. See, e.g., INT L COUNCIL ON HUMAN RIGHTS, CORRUPTION AND HUMAN RIGHTS: MAKING THE CONNECTION (2009), available at (arguing that conventional acts of corruption violate human rights for example, bribing a judge violates the right to fair trial and bribing voters violates the right to vote); James Thuo Gathii, Defining the Relationship Between Human Rights and Corruption, 31 U. PA. J. INT L L. 125 (2009) (discussing how human rights can interfere with the prosecution of corrupt acts and how anti-corruption reforms can further marginalize the poor); C. Raj Kumar, Corruption and Human Rights: Promoting Transparency in Governance and the Fundamental Right to Corruption-Free Service in India, 17 COLUM. J. ASIAN L. 31, (2003) (discussing similar linkages between corruption and human rights). The questions discussed in this Article have been hinted at, but not analyzed in depth. See Balakrishnan Rajagopal, Corruption, Legitimacy, and Human Rights: the Dialectic of the Relationship, 14 CONN. J. INT L L. 495, 500 (1999) (noting the position that the right to participation is violated when governments or international institutions take decisions that benefit private interests at the cost of the public without adequately involving them in design and implementation ).

5 2013 / The Democracy to Which We Are Entitled 43 With a declining membership base and growing financial demands, political parties are easy prey for the rich and powerful for whom the political parties offer opportunities for greater wealth and power. 18 This suggests a trend towards the elitist political parties described long ago by Maurice Duverger: parties focused on enlisting the support of notable individuals [and] prominent citizens... sought out either because of their prestige... or because of their wealth, which enable[d] them to underwrite the expenditures of election campaigns. 19 Jan Black confirms the present-day importance of Duverger s observation: the kind of democracy that is compatible with the new version of free enterprise turns out to be very expensive because [w]ith campaign contributions routinely in the millions of dollars... corruption becomes institutionalized. 20 Alexander and Rei concur, noting that incredibly large monetary contributions... have permeated the world of politics in most continents. 21 In light of this widespread reality, Black concludes: elected leaders... are in danger of being utterly discredited, along with their parties or movements and perhaps the ideal of democracy itself. 22 Money in politics tends to corrupt democracies as a result of four common factors. First, financial power is distributed unequally in all democracies, 23 a fact which implies two things: political spending on any given issue need not correspond to the majority position on that issue, and, as economic power translates into political power, political equality decreases. Second, people and organizations have much at stake, materially speaking, in the terms of pending legislation. 24 Third, these actors view political spending as an effective method of obtaining access to (if not influence over) candidates, officeholders, and political parties, and setting the terms of the political debate. 25 The means are well-known: contributions to campaigns 18. K. D. EWING & SAMUEL ISSACHAROFF, Introduction to PARTY FUNDING AND CAMPAIGN FI- NANCE IN INTERNATIONAL PERSPECTIVE 5 (K. D. Ewing & Samuel Issacharoff eds., 2006). 19. MAURICE DUVERGER, PARTY POLITICS AND PRESSURE GROUPS 6 7 (David Wagoner trans., 1972). 20. Jan Knippers Black, What Kind of Democracy Does the Democratic Entitlement Entail?, in DEMO- CRATIC GOVERNANCE AND INTERNATIONAL LAW, supra note 2, at COMPARATIVE POLITICAL FINANCE, supra note 14, at Id. See generally SUSAN ROSE-ACKERMAN, CORRUPTION AND GOVERNMENT: CAUSES, CONSE- QUENCES, AND REFORM (1999); MICHAEL JOHNSTON, SYNDROMES OF CORRUPTION: WEALTH, POWER, AND DEMOCRACY (2006); POLITICAL FINANCE AND CORRUPTION IN EASTERN EUROPE (Daniel Smilov & Jurij Toplak eds., 2007); K. D. EWING, THE COST OF DEMOCRACY: PARTY FUNDING IN MODERN BRITISH POLITICS (2007); STEVEN D. ROPER AND JANIS ISTKENS, PUBLIC FINANCE AND POST-COMMU- NIST PARTY DEVELOPMENT (2008) (establishing the general propositions that democracy is vulnerable to corruption and that large political expenditures exacerbate that vulnerability). 23. See Amy Chua, The Paradox of Free Market Democracy: Rethinking Development Policy, 41 HARV. INT L L.J. 287, 313 (2000) (discussing inequality in democracies). 24. See LAWRENCE LESSIG, REPUBLIC LOST: HOW MONEY CORRUPTS CONGRESS AND A PLAN TO STOP IT (2011) (discussing the supply and demand of campaign funds). 25. See Spencer Overton, The Donor Class: Campaign Finance, Democracy, and Participation, 153 U. PA. L. REV. 73, 89 (2004) (discussing the special access donors obtain at fundraising events); ROBERT

6 44 Harvard Human Rights Journal / Vol. 26 and political parties; the establishment of independent political groups that oppose certain political actors and favor others, thus influencing the course of elections and creating opportunities to extract concessions; hiring lobbyists, often former officeholders, who have access to current officeholders; and funding political advertisements in major media outlets that shape popular perceptions and the political agenda. 26 Fourth, these political finance activities are unregulated or laxly regulated in many jurisdictions. 27 Basing their research on some combination of these conditions, most scholars reach troubling conclusions: financial power has undue influence, average citizens are made of little account, the issues are not debated or decided on their merits for public concerns, and the purportedly publicspirited effort to obtain the common good is, in reality, a competition among profit-maximizing interest groups. 28 The future outlook promises little improvement. Ewing and Issacharoff observe that political systems without restrictions on money in politics can operate only when the political actors accept to be bound by a core set of values [emphasizing] transparency, the avoidance of improper influence or dependence, and fair electoral competition. 29 These are precisely the values that the USAID survey found to be systematically lacking in the majority of democracies. 30 Although Ewing and Issacharoff note that nonregulation is no longer seen to be acceptable in any major jurisdiction in the world, 31 this says nothing about the quality or effectiveness of the regulations undertaken. Moreover, it says nothing about the remaining jurisdictions, the numerical majority, where regulations are generally weak, REICH, SUPERCAPITALISM: THE TRANSFORMATION OF BUSINESS, DEMOCRACY, AND EVERYDAY LIFE 143 (2007) ( The more one competitor pays for access, the more its rivals must pay in order to counter its influence ). 26. See generally LESSIG, supra note 24, at 8, 103 (discussing contributions and lobbyists); RICHARD A. POSNER, LAW, PRAGMATISM, AND DEMOCRACY (2003) (discussing political advertising); EDWARD L. BERNAYS, PROPAGANDA (1928); JOHN STAUBER & SHELDON RAMPTON, TOXIC SLUDGE IS GOOD FOR YOU! LIES, DAMN LIES AND THE PUBLIC RELATIONS INDUSTRY (1995). 27. See generally ROBERT KLITGAARD, CONTROLLING CORRUPTION (1991); EWING & ISSACHAROFF, supra note 18; Ingrid van Biezen, Campaign and Party Finance, in COMPARING DEMOCRACIES 3: ELEC- TIONS AND VOTING IN THE 21ST CENTURY (Lawrence LeDuc, Richard G. Niemi, & Pippa Norris eds., 2010); POLITICAL FINANCE AND CORRUPTION IN EASTERN EUROPE (Daniel Smilov & Jurij Toplak eds., 2007). 28. See generally KLITGAARD, supra note 27; van Biezen, supra note 27; ROSE-ACKERMAN, supra note 22. The objections over money in politics are perhaps best articulated by U.S. authors, such as LESSIG, supra note 24. The same might be said about defenses of money in politics. A small contingent of libertarian scholars and certain weighty, pro-industry groups dispute the value judgments inherent in the conclusions summarized in the text above. See, e.g., JOHN SAMPLES, THE FALLACY OF CAMPAIGN FINANCE REFORM (2006); MARTIN H. REDISH, MONEY TALKS (2001); BRADLEY A. SMITH, UNFREE SPEECH: THE FOLLY OF CAMPAIGN FINANCE REFORM (2001). Jurisprudential representations of this minority view will be examined in Part III(c), below. At the outset, however, I credit the consensus, which holds that high levels of money in politics threaten democracy. 29. EWING & ISSACHAROFF, supra note 18, at See MONEY IN POLITICS HANDBOOK, supra notes and accompanying text. 31. EWING & ISSACHAROFF, supra note 18, at 2.

7 2013 / The Democracy to Which We Are Entitled 45 unenforced, or absent altogether. 32 The emerging consensus among major jurisdictions in favor of regulating political finance could benefit from international validation and States that fail to enact reasonable reforms could benefit from international assistance or pressure. The question, then, is whether international law should take a position on the sort of democracy to which all human beings are entitled. B. A Lacuna in International Law The most thorough examination of the status of democracy under international law left off where matters of money in politics begin. In Democratic Governance and International Law, Gregory Fox and Brad Roth assembled numerous essays on the legal foundations of a right to democracy, the role of democracy in international relations, the legality of pro-democracy interventions, and the appropriateness of outlawing the activities of undemocratic actors in democratic States. 33 This compendium built on earlier articles by Thomas Franck and Fox that discuss participatory rights from the vantage point of positive law sources, including treaty law, soft law declarations, United Nations resolutions, and customary international law. 34 Democracy, Franck wrote in 1992, is on the way to becoming a global entitlement, one that increasingly will be promoted and protected by collective international processes. 35 Everyone was aware of democracy s sacred status in the 1948 Universal Declaration of Human Rights, the 1966 ICCPR, and in numerous regional treaties. The ICCPR, most notably, establishes rights to free expression, peaceful assembly, and free association. 36 These rights must be integrated into a particular sort of political order, as is made clear by the inclusion of an additional set of rights: to vote and to be elected at genuine periodic elections which shall be by universal and equal suffrage and shall be held by secret ballot, to take part in the conduct of public affairs, and to have access, on general terms of equality, to public service in one s country. 37 Widespread ratification of the ICCPR sufficed to show that democracy, in this full sense, had already become a global entitlement; Franck s focus on democracy promotion by international actors 32. See supra notes 22 and 27. There is an additional sort of case, admittedly unaccounted for by this Article, in which regulations are strong enough to produce a distinct form of corruption: not the disproportionate power of private actors over electoral outcomes (although this too may occur), but the disproportionate power of political parties themselves to the exclusion of civil society. See COMPARATIVE POLITICAL FINANCE IN THE 1980S (Herbert E. Alexander ed., 1989) (discussing the negative consequences of public financing of political parties electoral and non-electoral expenses, including insulating parties from the demands of the electorate and from competition with minor parties). 33. FOX & ROTH, supra note Franck, supra note 8, at 46; Gregory H. Fox, The Right to Political Participation in International Law, 17 YALE J. INT L L. 539 (1992). 35. Franck, supra note 8, at ICCPR, supra note 7, arts Id. art. 25.

8 46 Harvard Human Rights Journal / Vol. 26 and increasing acceptance by States indicated that this entitlement was rapidly becoming, in our time, a normative rule of the international system. 38 Imbued with this sense of urgency and excitement, early works within the newly minted democratic entitlement school jumped straight to certain burning questions: What was democracy s status within positive law sources and the practices of international bodies? How could democracy best be promoted? What were the implications of a right to democracy for state sovereignty? Soon, however, it became evident that a number of foundational issues had been neglected, beginning with the fact that democracy itself was a highly contested concept associated with both emancipation and domination. People began to wonder whether all types of democracy deserved to be elevated to the status of a human right, and whether a human right to democracy, as democracy existed in practice, was worth celebrating. Writing in the final part of Fox and Roth s book, several contributors offered critical observations. After defining the human right to democratic governance in terms of popular participation and popular accountability, Roth asserted: The universal franchise may allow all sectors of the society to select once every four years from among pre-packaged candidates of parties controlled by social elites, but this scarcely implies the rudiments of accountability, let alone genuine popular empowerment. 39 To Roth s concern over accountability and empowerment, Jan Knippers Black added a warning about ideological shift. Citing campaign contributions routinely in the millions of dollars and institutionalized corruption, she described the ideological purpose of money in politics in these terms: [R]edefining electoral democracy, redrawing its parameters in such a way as to... equate free thinking with free markets... to such an extent that no matter how large a majority preferred that a function (e.g., campaign finance) be removed from the private realm or that a service (e.g., running water or health care) be offered in the public realm, such a policy would be seen as antidemocratic. 40 The procedural and ideological controversies signaled by Roth and Black serve the same basic function, as other authors pointed out: to limit the reach of popular sovereignty. In a separate article published that same year, Amy Chua called systemic political corruption, including subtle forms of patron-clientelism, a 38. Franck, supra note 8, at Brad R. Roth, Evaluating Democratic Progress, in DEMOCRATIC GOVERNANCE AND INTERNA- TIONAL LAW, supra note 2, at Black also noted that the kind of democracy that is compatible with the new version of free enterprise turns out to be very expensive. Jan Knippers Black, What Kind of Democracy Does the Democratic Entitlement Entail?, in DEMOCRATIC GOVERNANCE AND INTERNATIONAL LAW, supra note 2, at 527.

9 2013 / The Democracy to Which We Are Entitled 47 restraint on democracy. 41 She described this restraint as a response to tensions... between markets and majoritarian politics. 42 The essence of these tensions is that capitalism allows for (and generally produces) great inequalities in wealth, while democracy levels political power. Economic and political power thus travel in opposite directions simultaneously, leading to what Chua termed the paradox of free market democracy. 43 Avenues for money in politics allow economic power to serve as a check on, or eventually a replacement for, political power. What Roth and Black had observed, then, were mechanisms for resolving the paradox in favor of markets and against democracy. Concluding Fox and Roth s volume, Susan Marks elaborated on this paradox and its resolution. Observing a great variety of practices and institutions... consistent with liberal democracy, she noted little attention is drawn to the diversity of the values, ideas and principles that might animate those practices and institutions. 44 In particular, Marks stressed the difference between the liberal preoccupation with rights and freedom from government control, and the democratic preoccupation with equal participation in, and accountability of, public power. 45 She considered the liberal preoccupation to be winning out over the democratic preoccupation, lamenting the obvious failures of liberal democracy, its omissions with respect to the historic promise of self-rule on the basis of equality among citizens. 46 The implication was that the right to democracy under international law could spread this failure globally. Thus, Fox and Roth s authoritative compendium on the democratic entitlement ended with a warning: liberal democratic universalism could end up subjecting democratic values, structures, and aspirations to rule by the market. 47 The opposite possibility was neglected. Defined properly, liberal democratic universalism and its vehicle, the democratic entitlement, could serve to constrain rule by the market. If its terms were etched out with greater care so as to include stipulations on political finance, for example, then the democratic entitlement could help to accomplish that historic promise of self-rule on the basis of equality. Still, twelve years later, these opportunities and dangers have hardly been discussed, much less answered, at the international level. The literature on the democratic entitlement has not balanced Roth s democratic deficit, resolved Chua s paradox, or incorporated Mark s historic promise within democracy s international legal status. 41. Chua, supra note 23, at Id. at 339, 290 n Id. at Susan Marks, International Law, Democracy and the End of History, in DEMOCRATIC GOVERNANCE AND INTERNATIONAL LAW, supra note 2, at Id. at Id. 47. Id. at 563. See also SUSAN MARKS, THE RIDDLE OF ALL CONSTITUTIONS: INTERNATIONAL LAW, DEMOCRACY, AND THE CRITIQUE OF IDEOLOGY 2 (2003 ed.).

10 48 Harvard Human Rights Journal / Vol. 26 As Larry Diamond s 2010 volume on democratization puts it, political finance is a next generation issue. 48 Indeed, questions of money in politics and the potential for plutocratic control of the democratic form have gone unanalyzed under international law, perpetually left, as it were, to future generations. The question, then, is whether international law should take notice of money in politics, modify the definition of democracy so as to include at least a minimum floor of political finance reform, and perhaps take institutional measures to facilitate the needed reforms. The increasingly global campaign against corruption spearheaded by the new U.N. Convention against Corruption ( UNCAC ) has decided against all of these measures, at least for the time being. II. THE LIMITED SCOPE OF THE U.N. CONVENTION AGAINST CORRUPTION The UNCAC has set a minimum standard for democracies as regards obvious forms of corruption, but, like regional anti-corruption treaties, it does not touch on political finance or the subtler threat to democratic integrity associated with money in politics. 49 The UNCAC is the only global instrument in its field. 50 As of September 2012, the UNCAC has 161 par- 48. Kenneth Wollack, Retaining the Human Dimension, in DEBATES ON DEMOCRATIZATION 109 (Larry Diamond, Marc F. Plattner, & Philip J. Costopoulos eds., 2010). 49. Although the African Convention mentions political finance, it does not require limits on political expenditures or corporate electioneering, or counsel public funding of parties and campaigns. See The Convention on Preventing and Combating Corruption, July 11, 2003, 2nd Sess., African Union, available at Convention%20on%20Combating%20Corruption.pdf (last visited May 23, 2011). As such, it does not address democratic corruption. See id. art. 10 (requiring States Parties to [p]roscribe the use of funds acquired through illegal and corrupt practices to finance political parties; and [i]ncorporate the principle of transparency into funding of political parties. ). 50. United Nations Convention against Corruption, G.A. Res. A/RES/58/4, 31 Oct. 2003, opened for signature 9 Dec [hereinafter UNCAC], available at (last visited May 24, 2011). Cf. OECD Convention on Combating Bribery of Foreign Public Officials in International Business Transactions, Dec. 18, 1997, 37 I.L.M. 1., available at (last visited May 24, 2011); Inter-American Convention Against Corruption, Organization of American States, Caracas, Mar. 29, 1996, available at (last visited May 24, 2011); European Union Convention on the Fight Against Corruption Involving Officials of the European Communities or Officials of Member States of the European Union, 1997 O.J. (C 195) 1; Council of Europe Criminal Law Convention, adopted by the Council of Ministers 4 November, 1998, available at (last visited May 24, 2011); Convention on Preventing and Combating Corruption, July 11, 2003, 2nd Sess., African Union, available at 20Conventions_%20Protocols/Convention%20on%20Combating%20Corruption.pdf (last visited May 23, 2011); Foreign Corrupt Practices Act of 1977, Pub. L. No , 91 Stat (1977) (codified as amended at 15 U.S.C. 78(m)(b), (d)(1), (g)-(h), 78dd-1, 78dd-2, 78dd-3, 78ff) [hereinafter FCPA], amended by Foreign Corrupt Practices Act Amendment of 1988, Pub. L. No , 102 Stat. 1107, 1415 (1988) (codified at 78dd-1 to 78dd-3, 78ff), and the International Anti-Bribery and Fair Competition Act of 1998, Pub. L. No , 112 Stat (1998) (codified at 78dd-1

11 2013 / The Democracy to Which We Are Entitled 49 ties, including such diverse States (and organizations) as China, the United States, the United Kingdom, Afghanistan, the European Union, Iraq, Iran, and Venezuela. 51 It aims to achieve universal standards on good governance and greater consistency in the enforcement of anti-corruption norms, two innovations of tremendous importance. The Convention s preamble justifies a global approach with these words: corruption is no longer a local matter but a transnational phenomenon that affects all societies and economies, making international cooperation to prevent and control it essential. 52 At the signing conference, Secretary General Annan noted that [t]he convention makes clear that eradicating corruption is a responsibility of States. 53 State responsibility for corruption under international law pursuant to global standards and global enforcement would be a large gain indeed. Such gains are still speculative, as much of the Convention depends on the passage of domestic laws by States Parties and the eventual creation of an international body to monitor implementation and compliance. Moreover, the potential value of those gains is limited by the exclusion of money in politics from the international definition of corruption. A. Definitions of Corruption Definitions of corruption offered at the international level are silent on matters of political finance. Only a willing interpreter could locate matters of money in politics within their scope. The U.N. Office on Drugs and Crime ( UNODC ), under whose auspices the U.N. Convention is housed, offers a tautological definition of corruption: Corruption is a complex social, political and economic phenomenon that affects all countries. Corruption undermines democratic institutions... [and] attacks the foundation of democratic institutions by distorting electoral processes, perverting the rule of law. 54 This definition should not be construed as expanding the definition of corruption to cover all practices that pervert the rule of law or distort elections. It merely states that corruption does so. to 78dd-3, 78ff). The Convention built on many regional treaties on corruption, bribery, and organized crime sponsored by diverse organizations, including the Organization of American States, the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development, the Council of Europe, and the African Union. 51. See United Nations Treaty Collection, UNITED NATIONS, aspx?src=treaty&mtdsg_no=xviii-14&chapter=18&lang=en (last visited Sept. 15, 2012). 52. UNCAC, supra note 50, preamble. 53. Message of Secretary-General Kofi Annan in United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime, Global Action Against Corruption, The Merida Papers 1 (2004), available at documents/corruption/publications_merida_e.pdf (last visited May 26, 2011). 54. See United Nations Office of Drugs and Crime, index.html?ref=menuside

12 50 Harvard Human Rights Journal / Vol. 26 The definition of corruption provided by Transparency International ( TI ) is more focused: the abuse of entrusted power for private gain. 55 It is unclear whether lobbyists, large contributions and expenditures, and shadow fundraising groups fit into TI s formulation. Undue influence by moneyed actors and damage to democratic integrity do not always result in easily traceable private gains. They may distort the democratic process, diminishing accountability to the average voter, and produce a qualitatively different allocation of gains and losses across the legislative and policy spectrum. Private gains necessarily result, but it is difficult to pinpoint them precisely and to estimate the extent to which those gains resulted from an abuse of power. Undue influence and democratic integrity would have to be mentioned by name in order for money in politics to be safely included within UNODC s and TI s definitions. The UN Convention Against Corruption does not provide an explicit definition of corruption, but its conception of corruption can be ascertained by its requirements and prohibitions. Included within this implicit definition are bribery, money laundering, embezzlement, and, most subjectively, trading in influence. 56 The Convention s provisions on transparency and public procurement should not be understood as defining corruption more broadly. Because they come under the heading of preventive measures, the Convention should not be read as treating either a lack of transparency or officeholders biased by campaign contributions as corrupt. 57 The implication is that a lack of transparency and large campaign contributions could lead to corruption, not that they, in and of themselves, are forms of corruption. B. The Elimination of Political Finance Regulation from the UNCAC UNCAC s explanation of corruption and UNODC s tautological definition demonstrate an unwillingness to treat even high amounts of private political spending as per se corruption. No notion of indebted officeholders or political parties can be found. In fact, an article on campaign and party finance present in early drafts of the Convention was singled out for elimination by opposing States. The travaux préparatoires of the Convention reflect the initial inclusion of terms on political finance and their gradual diminution to the point of irrelevance. States interested in the global regulation of corruption discussed the first negotiation text in Vienna between January 2 and February 1, Aus- 55. Frequently asked questions about corruption, TRANSPARENCY INTERNATIONAL, (last visited Sept. 29, 2012). 56. UNCAC, supra note 50, arts. 15, 16, 18, and UNCAC, supra note 50, Chapter II. 58. Report of the Ad Hoc Committee for the Negotiation of a Convention Against Corruption on the work of its first to seventh sessions, Addendum: Interpretative notes for the official records (travaux préparatoires) of the negotiation of the United Nations Convention against Corruption at vii, U.N. Doc. A/58/422/Add.1, (2003) [herein-

13 2013 / The Democracy to Which We Are Entitled 51 tria and the Netherlands had achieved the inclusion of an article entitled, Funding of political parties. 59 Draft Article 10 provided: 1. Each State Party shall adopt, maintain and strengthen measures and regulations concerning the funding of political parties. Such measures and regulations shall serve: (a) To prevent conflicts of interest and the exercise of improper influence; (b) To preserve the integrity of democratic political structures and processes; (c) To proscribe the use of funds acquired through illegal and corrupt practices to finance political parties; and (d) To incorporate the concept of transparency into funding of political parties by requiring declaration of donations exceeding a specified limit. 2. Each State Party shall regulate the simultaneous holding of elective office and responsibilities in the private sector so as to prevent conflicts of interest. 60 This text was notable in its use of the word shall. Its formulations were mandatory. That said, those formulations were broadly phrased and undemanding. Measures listed in draft Article 10 concerning the funding of political parties did indeed have to be adopt[ed], maintain[ed] and strengthen[ed]. 61 But only a purposive definition of those measures was given, and the purposes specified were vague. The draft left conflicts of interest and improper influence, as well as the integrity of democratic structures and processes undefined. The only specific obligations in this Article were to disclose donations above an unspecified limit and ensure that political parties would not not be financed with funds obtained through corrupt practices. 62 The draft text did not dare to require limits on political donations or expenditures, any sort of public financing of parties or campaigns, or prohibitions on corporate political activity. Despite draft Article 10 s undemanding and purposive nature, several delegations requested its deletion. Another delegation suggested that its terms were impractical given the enormous variations in political systems. 63 This unfavorable climate led Austria, France, and the Netherlands to submit a revised version of Article 10, which eliminated Section 1(a) s after Travaux Préparatoires], available at toires.html (last visited May 26, 2011). 59. Id. at Id. 61. Id. at See id. (draft art. 10(1)(c) (d)). These are the only two portions of the text that contain specific obligations as regards political finance. 63. Id. at n.13.

14 52 Harvard Human Rights Journal / Vol. 26 clause on improper influence. 64 Still, opposition to the now weaker Article 10 grew at the third session of negotiations, which took place eight months later. Some delegations continued to request Article 10 s deletion while other delegations carefully framed their opposition as a function of the enormous variations in political systems. 65 The argument that variations among political systems make regulation of political finance impracticable suggests an opposition to Article 10 s purposes, not concern for its practicability (as claimed). While some allowances are surely needed to account for the diversity of institutional forms among the world s democracies, references to the fundamental principles of each legal system go beyond the need for flexible standards. If the interest in play were truly that of ensuring meaningful action while respecting institutional variations, then another wording would be more appropriate. For example, States could be required to take whatever actions were reasonable and effective within their own institutional structures and those actions could be subject to regular review to ensure their effectiveness. Several authors on comparative political finance have had no trouble isolating different types of democracies and the different sorts of political finance reforms used in each system. 66 Because what is effective in one jurisdiction is not necessarily effective in another, requiring that all States take the exact same actions would indeed be counterproductive. That said, nobody doubts that all well-meaning States could study the role of private wealth in the political process and make a good-faith effort towards increased democratic integrity. These sorts of actions were, however, exactly what many States sought to avoid. Tensions reached a breaking point at the sixth session of negotiations held between July 21 and August 8, There, two sets of replacement text for Article 10 were considered, one submitted by Australia, the other by Argentina, Benin, Bolivia, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Egypt, Finland, France, Germany, Guatemala, Nigeria, Peru, Portugal, and Sweden. Both proposals referenced the funding of electoral campaigns alongside the funding of political parties. 68 This was a helpful change, given that some democratic systems are candidate-centered rather than party-centered. Beyond this positive move, however, both proposals proceeded to empty Article 10 of what little content it possessed. 64. Id. at Id. at 87 n See, e.g., EWING & ISSACHAROFF, supra note 18 (discussing types of regulatory methods and the particular factors that determine the appropriateness of each method); see generally COMPARATIVE POLITI- CAL FINANCE IN THE 1980S, supra note 32; CAMPAIGN FINANCE AND PARTY FINANCE IN NORTH AMERICA AND WESTERN EUROPE 7 8 (Arthur B. Gunlicks ed., 2000) (discussing different models of political finance reform and democratic systems, including the differences between party-based systems and candidate-based systems). 67. Travaux Préparatoires, supra note 58, at Id.

15 2013 / The Democracy to Which We Are Entitled 53 Sections 1(a) and 1(b), which addressed conflicts of interest and the integrity of democratic political structures and processes, were eliminated. 69 This left intact the goal of transparency through the disclosure of some donations and, in the case of Australia s proposal, the elimination of political funds obtained through illegal practices. The other proposal, submitted by the fourteen other countries named above, did not even retain this goal. In its place it substituted a requirement that property used for electoral purposes be declared. 70 Besides the deletion of sections 1(a) and (b), the most notable change came in the addition of a phrase now ubiquitous throughout the treaty: in accordance with the fundamental principles of its domestic law. 71 Thus, the proposed duty to adopt, maintain and strengthen measures on political finance was made vulnerable to any domestic law principles that opposed such measures, so long, that is, as States could make an argument that said principles were fundamental. 72 These drastic changes, deletions, and qualifications were still not enough to satisfy the objections of powerful States. The Ad Hoc Committee tasked with the matter of electoral finance ultimately struck Article 10 from the treaty. 73 Only the delegations from Benin, Burkina Faso, Cameroon, and Senegal continued to advocate for a meaningful provision on political finance. 74 The final result was confirmed at the seventh session of negotiations held in the fall of What remains of draft Article 10 is incorporated into Article 7 s provisions on the public sector. According to Section 2 of that Article, each State Party: shall also consider adopting appropriate legislative and administrative measures... in accordance with the fundamental principles of its domestic law... concerning candidature for and election to public office. 76 According to Section 3 of the same Article, each State Party: shall also consider taking appropriate legislative and administrative measures... in accordance with the fundamental principles of its domestic law[ ] to enhance transparency in the funding of candidates for elected public office and, where applicable, the funding of political parties. 77 Finally, Section 4 notes that each State Party: shall, in accordance with the fundamental principles of its domestic law, endeavor to adopt, maintain and strengthen systems that promote transparency and prevent conflicts of interest. 78 Thus, the legacy of draft Article 10 is a series of hortatory recommendations masquerading as legal obligations. The repetition of the word shall 69. See id. 70. Id. at Id. at Id. 73. Id. at Id. 75. Id. 76. UNCAC, supra note 50, art. 7(2). 77. Id., art. 7(3). 78. Id., art. 7(4).

16 54 Harvard Human Rights Journal / Vol. 26 is tempered by the words consider, endeavor, and in accordance with the fundamental principles of its domestic law. 79 The meaning of these provisions is simple: States Parties may or may not regulate the financing of parties and campaigns, and if they choose to do so, they have tremendous leeway. The provision on transparency is slightly stronger. There, all States must endeavor to promote transparency that is, they must try. As regards political finance, all recognition of improper influence and the integrity of democratic institutions has been eliminated. C. UNCAC Fails to Create Meaningful Obligations The fate of draft Article 10 is indicative of the fate of most of the Convention s initial terms, even those terms that were included in the final text. The Convention is littered with qualifiers that cast doubt on its significance. For example, Article 18 obliges states to consider criminalizing the intentional trading in influence. 80 Or consider Article 5(2): Each State Party shall endeavour to establish and promote effective practices aimed at the prevention of corruption. An obligation to endeavor to promote a certain aim or to consider criminalizing certain behavior is no obligation at all. This is the stuff of resolutions and press conferences, not treaties. Consider Article 7 as well: (1) Each State Party shall, where appropriate and in accordance with the fundamental principles of its legal system, endeavour to adopt, maintain and strengthen systems for the recruitment, hiring, retention, promotion and retirement of civil servants and, where appropriate, other non-elected public officials. 81 In such contexts, the frequent repetition of the following phrases is troubling: shall consider adopting; shall endeavour to; where appropriate; and in accordance with the fundamental principles of [each party s] legal system. The drafters of the Convention used this last qualifier so many times that, apparently tiring of repetition, they later employed slight variations, including to the extent consistent with the fundamental principles of [each party s] legal system and whenever possible and consistent with fundamental principles of domestic law. 82 All together, these phrases were used over eighty times. This hortatory language is important for this Article s examination of the remaining provisions of the Convention that could potentially be relevant to money in politics. 79. I refer to the oddity of being obligated (States Parties shall ) to do nothing much at all ( consider or endeavour ) under conditions of no oversight, and always with the fallback excuse that action was untenable given the fundamental principles of one s legal system. See id. art. 7(2-4). 80. Id. art Id. art. 7(1) (emphasis added). See also id. art. 7(2). 82. See, e.g., id. arts. 30(6 7), 7(2), 8(5), 31(8), and 46(18) (employing these phrases and variations thereof).

17 2013 / The Democracy to Which We Are Entitled 55 D. UNCAC s Broad Language Could be Interpreted to Require Finance Reform, but Such Interpretation Is Unlikely The Convention s definition of influence trading could lead to progressive legal development. Included are the following acts, which are not far from the dynamics of private campaign contributions and political expenditures: The promise... or giving to a public official or any other person, directly or indirectly, of an undue advantage in order that [this person] abuse his or her real or supposed influence with a view to obtaining from an administration or public authority... an undue advantage for the original instigator of the act or for any other person. 83 Section (b) of the same Article adapts this language to cover the solicitation or acceptance by a public official of such an undue advantage. 84 It could be argued that campaign contributions and astutely placed independent political expenditures provide such an undue advantage for candidates, parties, and officeholders. It could further be argued that such contributions and expenditures are rewarded through the undue advantages provided by lawmakers to contributors and spenders in the terms of public policies enacted. This Article arguably goes the furthest distance towards tying the definition of corruption to the realities of money in politics. 85 A host of other articles are also potentially relevant to money in politics. 86 It is notable, however, that none of these articles explicitly apply to 83. Id. art. 18(a). 84. Id. art. 18(b). 85. See id., preamble ( Concerned about the seriousness of problems and threats posed by corruption to the stability and security of societies, undermining the institutions and values of democracy, ethical values and justice... ). 86. Article 5(1) requires anti-corruption policies that promote the participation of society and reflect the principles of... integrity, transparency and accountability. Article 8(1) on codes of conduct for public officials establishes that each State Party shall promote, inter alia, integrity, honesty and responsibility among its public officials. Article 8(5) require[s] public officials to make declarations... regarding... their outside activities, employment, investments, assets and substantial gifts or benefits from which a conflict of interest may result. Article 9 s public procurement norms call for objective standards and transparency in awarding government contracts, could discourage companies from donating to parties and campaigns. If such norms were established, it follows that political donations would translate less smoothly into government contracts. Article 10 s public reporting goals may include the provision of information on the organization, functioning and decision-making processes of... public administration. This could discourage legislative favoritism based on contributions to candidates and parties, and favorable independent expenditures favoring the same. Article 11 encourages measures to strengthen integrity and to prevent opportunities for corruption among members of the judiciary. This concern for judicial independence, which includes the willingness of judges to enforce anti-corruption norms, could imply limits on contributions and expenditures in relation to judicial elections, which are still held in some States, including the United States. Article 12(2)(e) establishes a duty to prevent corruption involving the private sector, a duty which may include... imposing restrictions, as appropriate and for a reasonable period of time, on the professional activities of former public officials or on the employment of public officials by the private sector after their resignation or retirement. This should be read as preventing the so-called revolving door between service in

18 56 Harvard Human Rights Journal / Vol. 26 political finance, corporate political expenditures, or the habitual activities of lobbyists. This potential for relevancy relates to the lack of specificity in each article. The fate of draft Article 10, moreover, suggests that many States would oppose any creative interpretation of the Convention s existing articles so as to bring money in politics within the Convention s purview. The same goes for the possibility of amending the Convention. 87 By excluding matters of political finance, anti-corruption treaties have left democracy at the mercy of economic power. E. Movement Toward European Political Finance Regulations There are signs of a greater willingness to limit political spending at the regional level. In 2010, The European Commission for Democracy Through Law ( Venice Commission ) issued Guidelines on Political Party Regulation, which are evidence of this trend. 88 The Guidelines begin with an important caveat: Each country s historical development and unique cultural context naturally preclude the development of a universal, single set of regulations for political parties. However, basic tenets of a democratic society, as well as recognized human rights, allow for the development of some common principles applicable to any legal system for the regulation of political parties. 89 The Guidelines then state that political finance reform is among those common principles: The regulation of political party funding is essential to guarantee parties independence from undue influence created by donors the legislature and employment as a lobbyist. Article 13 requires the promot[ion of] active participation of individuals and groups outside the public sector, such as civil society, non-governmental organizations and community-based organizations. Section 1(b) urges that effective access to information be given to the public. This section of Article 13 ought to be understood as requiring action on the question of political advocacy groups that do not disclose the identity of their corporate donors. Such groups, disguised as grass-roots organizations, then use large sums of anonymous money to purchase advertisements that benefit particular candidates and parties. See, e.g., Michael Luo & Stephanie Strom, Donors Names Kept Secret as Rules Shift, N.Y. TIMES, Sept. 21, 2010, at A1, available at times.com/2010/09/21/us/politics/21money.html?hp (discussing 501(c) groups: Unlike so-called 527 political organizations, which can also accept donations of unlimited size, 501(c) groups have the advantage of usually not having to disclose their donors identity. ). Article 26 calls on States to establish liability of legal persons for participation in the offences established by the Convention. Article 36 contains a duty to ensure the existence of a body... specialized in combating corruption through law enforcement[, which] shall be granted the necessary independence... to carry out [its] functions effectively and without any undue influence. Article 69 contains a provision on amendments. It is possible that the treaty might, at some later date, be amended to cover the financing of parties and elections. 87. See UNCAC, supra note 50, art European Commission for Democracy Through Law (Venice Commission), Guidelines on Political Party Regulation (Oct 15 16, 2010) [hereinafter Venice Guidelines], available at (last visited May 1, 2011). See also OECD Convention, supra note 50, at Annex II(A)(5) (stipulating that companies should consider ethics and compliance programmes with regard to political contributions ). 89. Venice Guidelines, supra note 88, at I(1), 6.

19 2013 / The Democracy to Which We Are Entitled 57 and to ensure the opportunity for all parties to compete in accordance with the principle of equal opportunity and to provide for transparency in political finance. 90 The Commission issued a warning, however, that complicates the plight of States wishing to enact reforms: Funding of political parties through private contributions is also a form of political participation. Thus, legislation should attempt to achieve a balance between encouraging moderate contributions and limiting unduly large contributions. 91 The Guidelines therefore represent an endorsement of some minimum floor for the regulation of political parties based on its recognition of the dangers of party dependence on the undue influence of donors, unfair competition between parties on the basis of donations, and a lack of transparency. The need to respond to such dangers is tempered, however, by the Commission s conclusion that private political contributions are a form of political participation. This balancing act between eliminating undue influence and securing basic equality within the political sphere, on the one hand, and protecting rights of political participation, on the other, illustrates why democratic corruption is a delicate and controversial topic. Before corruption can be defined, democracy must be defined, its core values and procedures specified. Only then, as a function of violence to those values and procedures, can one decide whether a given action constitutes corruption. Because that exercise has yet to be performed as regards political finance, draft Article 10 s fate is unsurprising as a legal matter. It ought to be seen as a function of lacunae in international law. The Venice Commission s Guidelines may be taken as evidence of an emerging consensus on political finance in Europe, but they do not fill the international legal void. The next step is to ask whether democracy s core values and procedures under international law imply a position on political finance. Those values and procedures are specified within the democratic entitlement. III. MONEY IN POLITICS AND THE DEMOCRATIC ENTITLEMENT Compared with global anti-corruption norms, the textual provisions comprising the democratic entitlement represent a richer set of normative commitments and a better established body of rules. If money in politics is to become a concern of international law, it is best for that process to emanate from the democratic entitlement and then extend to anti-corruption treaties. Were that process to flow in the opposite direction, it would lack theoretical and normative depth; rules thus established would lack a sound foundation. 90. Id. at para Id.

20 58 Harvard Human Rights Journal / Vol. 26 Universal rights to voting, political participation, and political association were declared by the General Assembly in 1948 and formally ratified by States in 1976, 92 whereas global anti-corruption norms only emerged in The Universal Declaration of Human Rights ( Declaration ) and the International Covenant on Civil and Politics Rights ( ICCPR ), the foundational documents in question, are imbued with influential notions of freedom, equality, accountability, and State obligations. These rights and the notions surrounding them are the primary representations of democratic norms and political values at the international level. Money in politics must first pass through these filters. The following analysis is but a first step. It isolates the textual provisions of the democratic entitlement that are relevant to money in politics, illustrates their possible applications to political finance, and discusses the controversial interpretive questions thus raised. The answers to those questions are preliminary, but they will be so far-reaching and unsettling as to compel further investigation. A. The Universal Declaration s Implications for Money in Politics 1. The Declaration s Democratic Entitlement Article 21(3) of the Declaration elevates popular sovereignty and elections to the universal standard for governmental legitimacy: The will of the people shall be the basis of the authority of government; this will shall be expressed in periodic and genuine elections which shall be by universal and equal suffrage. 94 This invalidates not just imperial governance from afar, but any form of governance however local that lacks popular validation. Complimenting and operationalizing this standard, the Declaration announced rights of free expression, free assembly and association, and, more surprisingly, rights to equal access to public service and political participation. 95 Consider the first two sections of Article 21: (1) Everyone has the right to take part in the government of his country, directly or through freely chosen representatives. (2) Everyone has the right of equal access to public service in his country. 96 This means that democratic leadership positions must remain accessible to average citizens. Indeed, these provisions suggest it would be unlawful for new forms of elite power and privilege to emerge through democracy. Thus, Article 21 makes popular sovereignty an 92. See Universal Declaration, supra note 6, art. 21; ICCPR, supra note 7, art See UNCAC, supra note Universal Declaration, supra note 6, art. 21(3). 95. Id. arts. 19 ( Everyone has the right to freedom of opinion and expression; this right includes freedom to hold opinions without interference and to seek, receive and impart information and ideas through any media and regardless of frontiers ) and 20(1) ( Everyone has the right to freedom of peaceful assembly and association. ). 96. Id. art. 21(1 2).

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